# Claude Code 2.1.198: subagents run in the background by default, Claude in Chrome GA

> Background execution becomes the default for subagents, and background agents launched from `claude agents` now finish code work by committing, pushing, and opening a draft PR instead of stopping to ask. Claude in Chrome reaches general availability, and the `/agents` wizard is removed in favour of editing `.claude/agents/` directly.

| | |
|---|---|
| **Tool** | Claude Code |
| **Version** | 2.1.198 |
| **Kind** | release |
| **Published** | 2026-07-01 |
| **Observed** | 2026-08-11 |
| **Significance** | 4/5 |
| **Breaking** | yes |
| **Categories** | feature, capability, breaking, deprecation, fix |

## What changed


- Subagents run in the background by default; the main session continues and is notified on completion (previously a gradual rollout)
- Claude in Chrome generally available
- Background agents in a worktree now commit, push, and open a draft PR on completion instead of asking
- `/agents` wizard removed — create/manage subagents by asking Claude or editing `.claude/agents/`
- New `Notification` hook events for background agents: `agent_needs_input`, `agent_completed`
- New `/dataviz` skill for chart/dashboard design, including a runnable color-palette validator
- Gateway: Claude Platform on AWS (`anthropicAws`) added as an upstream provider; model-not-found now advances the failover chain
- Built-in Explore agent inherits the session model (capped at opus) instead of running on haiku
- Subagents and context compaction inherit the session's extended thinking configuration
- Subagents treat messages from their launching agent as task direction; an agent's message still never counts as user approval
- Fixes: transient network errors (ECONNRESET) now retry with backoff instead of aborting the turn; stuck "Running" background tasks in web/desktop/VS Code panels; agent-team members that die on API errors now report "failed"; AWS/Mantle STS expiry no longer dead-ends at "Please run /login"; `claude --bg` with `--print`/`-p` now rejected up front; `.claude/rules/` conditional rules load through symlinked paths
- Syntax highlighting upgraded to highlight.js 11


## Sources

- [changelog_md](https://github.com/anthropics/claude-code/blob/main/CHANGELOG.md) — retrieved 2026-08-11

## Community

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Canonical: https://changelogs.info/claude-code/2-1-198
Entity: https://changelogs.info/claude-code
Event ID: `evt_2026-07-01_claude-code_2-1-198`
Licence: event synthesis © changelogs.info, CC BY 4.0. Linked sources belong to their vendors.